William commanded the fleet to use the standard battle line + T-shaped tactics, aiming at the enemy's bow on the side, so as to maximize the firepower advantage of the flank guns, and concentrate all the side firepower to fire at the enemy's lead ship at a wide angle, while the enemy could only use the bow guns to counterattack when the enemy was shelled on three sides, and the firepower was greatly suppressed. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

This tactic, also known as the T-shaped cross-cut tactic, was the most ideal way of fighting for all fleet commanders until the combination of steel steam battleships + rifled guns appeared. Although in the early 17th century, the concept of the battle line was still only in its infancy in Europe, and the real T-shaped cross-cutting tactic had not yet been proposed, but with veteran military fans like Lin Weiye and the active British Royal Navy with strong comprehension ability like William, it was logical that this tactic would be introduced in advance.

The Qiongzhou Battalion Navy has participated in large and small naval battles, but the weak small pirates cannot force their true strength; In the Battle of Liuluo Bay, because he only joined the battlefield halfway, coupled with the chaos of the battle, the firepower and tonnage of the Wuxiang class were not enough to support the battle line shooting, so the real battle line plus T-shaped tactics were really used in naval battles today.

Of course, the T-shaped cross-cut is not as easy to succeed as imagined, because naval warfare is different from land warfare, the battlefield environment composed of the vast ocean determines that the position of both sides of the battle may be uncertain at all times, and the attacked party will certainly not throw itself into the net, success or failure depends on objective factors (fleet speed, intelligence, relative position, formation training level, etc.), the commander's ability is also crucial (including judgment, determination, timing, navigation, etc.), if Zheng Zhilong also understands this tactic, In the case of seeing the opponent lined up in the battle line, he will definitely choose to evade. However, this tactic is the first of its kind in East Asia, and Zheng Zhilong has never heard of it, let alone avoided it in advance.

2 Yongle-class, 12 Wuxiang-class, 8 24-pounder guns on one side, 60 12-pounder guns on one side, concentrated attack in one direction, such a density of firepower in the 17th century Fujian sea is unprecedented, the battle-hardened Zheng family sailors, have never seen such a terrifying scene: dense solid bullets like a hail, smashed on the front end of the troop carrier. The sailors, who did not want to be huddled in the damp and stuffy cabin, became live targets on the deck, and there was no way to escape, and the whistling shells plowed blood grooves directly into the crowd, and the severed limbs flew and blood splattered everywhere they passed; The bow and sides of the ship were pierced by heavy solid bullets, the waves washed the huge hole under the action of the wind, and the sea water slowly poured into the ship, and after only one round of shelling, the troop carrier began to enter the water and roll sideways, and the corpses and severed limbs on the deck slipped into the water, and the surrounding water was stained red with blood.

When the second round of shelling began, the Zheng family's fleet still did not react, and did not even expect to lower the sails and turn to dodge, and the ships in the rear continued to rush into the fan-shaped encirclement of the battle line, and suffered high-intensity shelling head-on, more and more ships rolled sideways and sank, and the sailors on the ship either cried for their lives or fell into the sea with injuries, and the rumbling cannon sound was mixed with wails and cries for help, and the originally orderly fleet began to fall into chaos.

Before Zheng Zhilong could respond, the vanguard of the fleet suffered a heavy setback, and he was a little stunned for a while. He never expected that what was originally a drama of his own vigorous pressure on the door turned into an unreasonable attack by the Qiongzhou battalion blocking the door of the house, and as soon as it came up, it was a dead hand, leaving no room for anything, completely ignoring the identities of each other's officers and soldiers as nothing.

Zheng Zhibao on the side lost his voice and said: "Is Xia Nan crazy?" He didn't think about how to explain to the officials of Fujian and Guangdong and the imperial court afterwards? ”

Both sides are officers and soldiers of the imperial court, not a pure pirate group like Liu Xiang and Zhu Cailao, who are mixed in the system, and always have to talk about the rules of the rivers and lakes. Although Zheng Zhilong's trip was made with great fanfare, he did not plan to start a full-scale war, but just wanted to block the Qiongzhou Strait, give the other party a dismount, and by the way, "accidentally" killed a few warships that dared to go to sea from Bofu Port, as for attacking Lingao County, he didn't dare to think about it. However, the Qiongzhou battalion does not seem to have such concerns at all, and this posture is completely beaten by Haikou who treats the Zheng family as Liu Xiang and others.

Zheng Zhilong came to his senses and said: "Now is not the time to talk about this, let's fight the Qiongzhou battalion first, and then go on like this, no matter how many boats there are, it will not be enough to feed the artillery." Now it is the Qiongzhou battalion that has ridden to the top of the Zheng family's head, not that we cause trouble first, and we also have an excuse afterwards......"

After all, he was born as a battle-hardened sea lord, although Zheng Zhilong didn't understand what the opponent's formation was, but he saw that such a "D" shape was unfavorable to him, Mo said that the Zheng family did not have a cannon that could fight a few miles away, and even if there were, it would not be able to be used in such a situation, even if it rushed up with artillery fire, it was a tactic to add fuel to the fire, and it was just a matter of increasing casualties. He quickly made a judgment and ordered: "Order the big green heads to spread out and advance, close to their big ship to shoot, and the rest of the troop carriers will detour from both sides, waiting for the opportunity to approach and then fight hand-to-hand, and wait until the opponent's formation is chaotic, and then get on the fireboat!" ”

Because there was no preparation in advance, the fireboat tactics were not intended to be used, and naturally there were no special fireships -- you know, it is a very dangerous thing to sail for more than ten days on an arson ship full of firewood and vegetable oil, and if you accidentally get a little spark, it will spontaneously combust, and generally only before the big war, when it is decided to launch a fireboat offensive, will it be prepared a day in advance -- but this Zheng family, which is difficult to live in and have a big business, has one or two hundred ships in this dispatch, and choose some smaller boats to get together casually, pile up some planks, pour some vegetable oil, and the fireboat fleet will have it, as long as it can achieve miraculous results, After the ship burned and rebuilt, the Zheng family was rich and not bad for money.

William held the monoculars, observing the changes on the battlefield, and when he saw Zheng Zhilong's response, he shrugged regretfully: "Our opponent is not a fool after all, his response is the only correct choice that can be made at present, but it is a pity that our battle line is only a small test, and it has not fully exerted its maximum power." ”

Xia Nan asked curiously: "Although I don't quite understand the T-shaped cross-cutting tactic you discussed with Lao Lin, it can be used when it is stationary, and it can also be used during maneuvering, right?" Our fleet takes advantage of the sails and ship types to seize the T-shaped head position again, isn't it? ”

William shook his head: "General, your statement is theoretically valid. However, our opponents are not well-trained fleets, they are still pirates fighting separately in their bones, and even if we can seize the T-shaped cross-head position, it may not be their main force against us, but just a group of guerrillas, purely cannon fighting mosquitoes, wasting firepower in vain. ”